Original Source of this file Actualism, A Light Meditation ACTUALISM Light Meditation, Enter The Corridor Of Growth (C)1993 Bruce R. Jaffe (jaffe@panix.com), PhD. All rights reserved. Feel free to copy this document and pass it on, but any commercial use requires express permission of the author. HTML-Version by Mike Adamzek (MAD@is.ruu.nl). ACTUALISM, Part 1: Meditation and Beyond INTRODUCTION The powerful, yet safe, introductory meditation technique which follows has been taught to literally thousands of people over more than 30 years, including health practitioners at the University of California, San Diego Health Sciences Department. Many have found it to be calming and centering for themselves and for those they treat and counsel. Scientific studies have found meditation in general to have health benefits such as reducing stress and lowering blood pressure. Beyond those physical benefits, if practiced often, meditation can lead to an overall increased clarity of mind, emotional well-being, and sensory delight in life--in essence, more of the joy of living. Actualism is a step-by-step process of enhancing and accelerating spiritual growth and enlightenment. Using ancient techniques in a modern formulation, Actualism works with inner "light-fire" energy tools and techniques to bring about the releasing of one's potential for healing self and others, for creative inspiration and expression, and for problem-solving in many areas of life. HISTORYFounded in the early 1960's by Dr. Russell Paul Schofield, Actualism--then known as "Agni Yoga[2]" or "union by fire"--is now taught at centers in New York and California (including Costa Mesa, Escondido, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco). I am endeavoring to introduce this teaching to a worldwide audience by means of the Internet and commercial online services such as America Online and CompuServe. To teach meditation by correspondence, or long distance over networks such as these, is a formidable task, but the results since this article was first posted in September 1993 have shown that it is possible. At least the introductory techniques can be practiced, and even mastered, from reading and then sitting down and working with them. With a teacher present in person, it is much easier to learn because not only is the teacher available to answer questions, but the energy and awareness of the teacher amplify the experience of the student. BASIC LAWS To begin with, there are some basic laws of energy that are helpful to know: 1. Awareness directs thought, and thought directs energy. 2. Life-energy follows thought. 3. Where there is pain, from mild discomfort to acute distress, the flow of life-energy is obstructed. 4. Where thought is focussed, the power of life-energy is concentrated. We can sum up these four laws in four simple words for practical application: THINK, LET, OBSERVE, and EXPERIENCE. So when you are working with inner life energy tools, think of the energy once, then let it flow, observe it moving about, and with your awareness let yourself enter into the experience. As you become skilled at this directed "letting" you move into what we call "effortless effort". How difficult is it to think a thought? Yet that is all it takes to begin tapping into your inner-light-fire energy. The key is knowing where to direct your awareness, and how to bring the energy from within out. The "how" is easy, once you stop trying to make it difficult. PREPARATION Especially when you start out working with life-energies, it is best to be in a situation where you will not be interrupted. If possible, find a quiet, comfortable place to sit. Let someone else or your phone answering machine answer the phone. Sit in a comfortable chair, with your feet flat on the floor, your legs and arms uncrossed. (This can also be done lying down, but you might fall asleep). Rest your hands on your upper legs, with your palms down. Close your eyes, so your mind won't be distracted by what is going on around you. MEDITATION TECHNIQUE Direct your focus of awareness to a place six inches (about 20cm) directly above the center of the top of your head. Here is located a place in consciousness which is always calm and radiant, no matter what is going on elsewhere in your mind or body, or around you. It is called the "upper room". Think of a point of pure, crystal-white light here. Don't "try" to visualize it. If you see it, fine, but if you don't, it doesn't matter. As you think of the point of white light, it grows brighter, expanding into a little star, three inches (about 10cm) in diameter. Think and let the star burn away the veils that have kept it hidden all these years. Direct the star to open, releasing a downpour of cleansing and purifying life energy. This energy is crystal clear, like fresh spring water. Let the energy flow through your hair, scalp, into the bones of your head and face, into your brain, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, down the neck, through your shoulders, arms, and hands. Experience it flowing through your chest and back, abdomen, hips, pelvic area, upper legs, knees, lower legs, ankles and feet. Think and let the soles of your feet open, releasing the energy into the earth beneath your feet. Now it is flowing through your whole body. Think of the bottoms of your feet closing, so the energy begins to backfill up through the areas you have cleared out. Experience it in your legs, hips, torso, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, and head. Let it overflow out the top of your head, surrounding your body with an aura of crystal clear white light. Bring your hands together, almost but not quite touching, palms facing each other out in front of your body. Experience the energy flowing through your hands. You could use this energy to heal others, by laying your lighted hands on the person's head, heart, or wherever they have discomfort. Whatever you touch with your hands lighted this way will be filled with inner light-fire-energy. If you experience discomfort anywhere in your body as you are working with the inner light, think of the "consuming fire" aspect of the energy. Hold the focus of it in the area of discomfort to burn through the obstructions to the flow of your pure life energy. Afterwards, take a few minutes to assimilate the radiant essence of the light into any area that you have cleared out with the consuming fire aspect. WHEN TO USE THIS TECHNIQUE In addition to your focussed practice of the energy in a meditation as described above, you can work with the downpour anytime and anywhere, day or night, with your eyes open or closed, as appropriate to the situation. You can use it as an inner shower while you take your outer shower in the morning. Every time you think of the star and the white light downpouring, it continues for about 30 minutes. So you can literally fill your day with inner light. It's also a great way to go to sleep at night. For stress-reduction it is best to practice the technique for at least a few minutes every day. ACTUALISM LIGHTWORK TRAINING, Part 2: Gathering and Enlightening Awareness SUMMARY: Part 2 introduces a method of gathering and enlightening awareness. When Actualism sessions are taught in person, this technique precedes each lesson, including the introductory session, to enhance the experience of life-energy. I am presenting this in this "online" series as the second lesson, because I thought it might be too subtle for the first session without a teacher present. If you had a good response to the energy work from the first session, you are no doubt ready to do this more subtle work with awareness. This can be practiced by itself, or as the beginning of a meditation session with light-fire-energy. ABOUT AWARENESS One of the most important aspects of the power to focus thought, and thereby to direct energy, is awareness. Where your awareness is scattered, your thoughts become scattered, and your energy also. As you learn to gather and enlighten your awareness, working with light-fire-energy becomes more powerful and effective. Furthermore, as you gather more awareness, you have more awareness available to expand. There is a big difference between scattering awareness and expanding awareness, as you will come to experience. Awareness has three main aspects: Knowing Awareness--Which is your mental awareness, including thoughts, ideas, plans, and concepts. Emotional Awareness--Also called feeling awareness, including your emotional feelings of every kind. Sensory Awareness--Including sensations of every kind, perceptions, and perspectives. The following technique is a way of gathering and enlightening your knowing, feeling, and sensory awareness. It is recommended that from now on you do this at the beginning of every meditation session, to amplify your experience of the light-fire-energy, and your ability to direct and focus the energy. TECHNIQUE FOR GATHERING AND ENLIGHTENING AWARENESS Sit comfortably, with your feet, legs, and arms uncrossed, and your eyes closed. In time you will find you can also do this with your eyes open, but it is easier not to be distracted with your eyes closed. Think of your "Upper Room", the radiant, peaceful place within your nature that is located about six inches (20cm) directly above the center of the top of your head. Although it is not within your body, it is within your energy field, which extends from 12 to 15 feet (about 4 to 5 meters) in every direction (spherically) around your body. The Upper Room is a source point for the Radiant Awareness of your Actual Self, also known as your "Higher Self" or the "Being of Light" that you actually are. Focus your attention in your brain. Think and let the knowing awareness in your brain-mind open to and harmonize with the Radiant Awareness from your Upper Room. With effortless effort, observe and experience the gathering in of your mental awareness. If your brain is chattering too much for you to experience anything else, let your brain shift out of the active "doing" role into the relaxed "being" mode. Continue this for about 1-2 minutes. Then shift your focus to the nerve cells and nerves in your brain. Most of the brain is made up of nerve cells. Direct the nerves to harmonize with radiant awareness from your upper room, and send Radiant Awareness flowing through your spinal cord, solar plexus, and out through all the nerves in your body, gathering and enlightening your sensory awareness. Continue this for about 1-2 minutes. Now focus in your heart and harmonize your heart with the Radiant Awareness from the Upper Room. From here it flows out through your blood and circulatory system throughout your whole body. Expand this focus to your liver, and from the liver Radiant Awareness moves to all the glands in your body. From this focus in the liquid systems of your heart, blood, circulatory system, liver and glands, experience gathering and enlightening your emotional or feeling awareness. Continue this for about 1-2 minutes. Now you have enlightened knowing, sensory, and emotional awareness. From here you can move with a flow of enlightened awareness into your Upper Room, lighting your Star and downpouring as in the previous lesson... ACTUALISM Part 3: Enlightening Your Energy Field SUMMARY: Part 3 discusses the energy field which surrounds everything, and how to enlighten the field surrounding your body. It includes the next in this series of techniques, building upon the methods taught in Parts 1 and 2. I call this series "meditation and beyond" because it involves not only transforming your energy during meditation, but in your active daily life as well. For best results, practice working with the light (with effortless effort) for at least a few minutes every day. NOTE: If for any reason you cannot locate previous articles in this series, please write to me and I will either re-post them here, or mail them to you directly. ABOUT THE ENERGY FIELD We live in a sea of energy, as many people have discovered. Everything, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, has an energy field within and around it. Human beings have the largest fields, in proportion to the size of their bodies, of any life form on earth. The greater the degree of sensitivity, the larger the field. With training, the field can be extended to an even greater size. People who are interested in meditation generally have a high degree of sensitivity, with a field extending from 12 to 15 feet (about 4 to 5 meters) in every direction around the body, or about 30 feet (roughly 10m) in diameter. The field tends to be very magnetic, picking up energy vibrations from the environment, of both high frequency, life-supportive energy and low frequency, life-draining energy. Often we experience these loads without realizing what is happening. That is why sometimes you may suddenly feel tired, depressed, or anxious upon entering a room or a building (such as a store), or after a few minutes of being around certain people. With enlightened awareness expanded into the field, and with the use of light-fire-energy from the crystal white Star, any loads picked up in the field can quickly be processed and transformed into life-supporting energy essence. There is a central vertical axis (CVA) running through the center of your body and your field, from top to bottom. It follows the position of your body, and bends if your body bends, such as when you are seated in a chair. The upper room and white star that we worked with in previous sessions are located upon this central vertical axis. TECHNIQUE FOR CLEARING THE FIELD After gathering and enlightening awareness (see Part 2 of this series), and turning on the crystal white star and downpour (see Part 1), raise the star up to about three feet (about 1m) above the center of the top of your head. Direct the star to expand to about 3-1/2 feet in diameter, and close it so that it is no longer downpouring. Bring the star out in front of your body and on down below your feet to about 12 feet (4m) below your body. Here at the bottom of your field, the star centers on the CVA. Direct the star to begin spinning in a counterclockwise direction (at body height this would be from right to left). This counterclockwise (CC) spin intensifies elimination of low frequency energy debris. Here we are using it to clear out the bottom of the field, where loads of muddy energy often collect. For added clearing power, think of, which invokes, the "consuming fire" aspect of the crystal white light. This speeds up the elimination of low frequency, making room for high frequency energy. The star will reach a tremendous speed, faster than any material object could spin without flying apart. Your brain-mind does not have to keep it going, so just relax and let the star do the spinning! This is "effortless effort" in action. Bring the spinning star slowly up along the CVA, pausing about six inches (20cm) below your feet, then bring it up into your legs and pelvic bowl, so you are seated within the spinning star. Then bring it up into the upper half of your body, extending from above your head to below your seat. Raise the star up above your body, on up to about 3 feet (1m) above. Direct it to stop spinning, which it does instantly. Then have the star spinning clockwise (CW) and repeat the previous steps with the CW spin. This amplifies assimilation of purified, transformed energy essence into all the areas you have cleared out. By filling in with light all along your axis, you are building up a powerful radiant glow that will keep these areas lighted as you go about your business in the world. There are other techniques for becoming more aware of your field, and for building up the strength of the light in your field, which we will go into in subsequent sessions. ACTUALISM, Part 4: Enlightening Your Relationships SUMMARY: All of life is relationship. With enlightened awareness and the purifying light-fire energy one can move into relationships as a Being of Light, rather than as a "mere mortal". As we purify our intrapersonal and interpersonal relationship lines, we find increasing harmony and rewards in all inner and outer relationships. File includes a meditation technique for working on healing relationships. ALL LIFE IS RELATIONSHIP One of the fundamental aspects of human beings is that we have in our natures the seeds of every life form on earth. Our physical bodies are made from the same stuff as the sea, the land, the air and the fire of life on this planet. We are life in action. From conception as a one-celled animal, our bodies grow into the magnificent creature we call a man or a woman. During the passage through the prenatal process, the form recapitulates the most ancient evolutionary trek through the most basic creature forms to our present form. Here is the physical linkage between us and all life around us--our atoms and molecules come from the same source. RELATING FROM THE HEAVEN WITHIN As little children we have a natural tendency to respond to all life directly with a spirit of awe, wonder, curiosity, intimacy, joy and delight. "Only as ye become like a child can ye enter the kingdom of heaven," as it says in the Bible. Unfortunately, with conditioning imprints and influences we learn rapidly to forget this natural love, wisdom, and goodwill in relationships and become cut off from our awareness of that spontaneous joy of giving and receiving freely and abundantly from the heaven within. The greatest challenge of healing and enlightening relationships is to remove the barriers to the "God-Child" within us. Then once again, as adults, we can experience and express from our heaven within, uninhibited and unburdened by guilt, shame, blame or condemnation. In Actualism, as you have no doubt begun to experience if you have been practicing the techniques presented in this series of articles, we work directly with light-fire-energy to dissolve obstructions to life-flow, and to awaken awareness to the "Actual Self" or Being of Light that each one is. As you learn to heal the scars and wounds in your relationship to yourself, you find that you can relate to others from a deeper understanding and compassion for their conditioning. This is not "pity" or smug "superiority", but rather relating from the heaven within you to the heaven within another person, regardless of outer appearances. ACTUAL VS. IDEALIZED RELATIONSHIPS Many people spend their lives "looking for" or "waiting for" a special someone with whom to share their life. Unfortunately, that's usually about as unsuccessful as seeking happiness. Happiness comes as a by-product of fulfilling a need. If you seek happiness, you will seldom find it, because seeking it drives it away. The same is true with finding a soul mate. It sounds trite, but it is true: when we are ready, he or she will find us. Once we do connect with someone deeply, the work on ourselves and on relationships continues. One of the grand illusions about relationships is that they ought be perfect. We all know the fairy tale, idealized imagery in our culture about riding off into the sunset with the perfect, one true love. When one "falls in love" it seems for a while that the relationship is perfect. Naturally, however, relationships change and evolve. That is why a relationship is never truly "finished". THOUGHTS ARE THINGS Whenever we THINK of someone, we are engaging in a moment of relating with that person, whether in love or hate, joy or grief, wisdom or fear, goodwill or anger. Thoughts are things, and thinking of someone puts us in direct contact with them in consciousness. Recall the four laws of life-energy from the first article in this series: 1. Awareness directs thought. 2. Thought directs energy and life-energy follows thought. 3. Where there is pain, from mild discomfort to acute distress, the flow of life-energy is obstructed. 4. Where awareness is focussed, the power oflife-energy is concentrated. Being aware of this interconnectedness through thought with anyone we think of, we can work in consciousness on problems in communication and in relating. We may not be able to change someone else's attitudes and behavior, but we can change how we react to them. In fact, with enlightened awareness you can move into that in you which corresponds to whatever in another person you find annoying, and change how you relate to that aspect of yourself. By accepting with love and light, rather than rejecting and hating that aspect of yourself, you transform how you relate to the other person on many levels of consciousness. Often that will have a transforming effect on the other person as well. MEDITATION TECHNIQUE Using inner light-fire-energy, we refine and purify our relationships even when physically separated. As Beings of Light, we are actually never separated. Here is a simple, practical technique for working on healing relationships using inner light-fire-energy: 1. Begin as in the previous articles (Actualism, Parts 1,2,3) by gathering and enlightening your knowing, emotional, and sensory awareness. Think of, which turns on your white star, and let the energy downpour throughout your body from head to toe. (You do NOT need to spin the star in this session). 2. Choose someone in your life that you would like to work with (at a distance) in this session. Pick a relationship you would like to improve. It could be anyone from a close, intimate loved one to a casual acquaintance. 3. Move with enlightened awareness into your "upper room", about six inches (20cm) above the center of the top of your head. This is a place from which you can touch into the unobstructed, undeviated union with the Being of Light of the person with whom you are working in this session. Think and let your awareness touch into this union with the person's beautiful Being of Light, even if you feel totally at odds with the personality. 4. Bring awareness of your union as Beings of Light into your brain. Observe any tightening, tension, or discomfort that comes up in your head as you do this. Think and let the consuming fire aspect of the white light begin to process any negative thoughts about that person's ideas and mental attitudes as you focus here on your union with him or her. Your brain and the other persons may have been "out of sync" in a way that has kept you from having a harmonious mental relationship. After things ease up in your brain, spend a minute or more assimilating the purified energy essence here. 5. Shift your focus into your heart and liver. The heart is located between the breasts, the liver is just below the right breast. As you focus awareness of your union as Beings of Light with the person with whom you are working, observe any tension or discomfort that comes up here. Also observe any negative feelings that come up here. Let the consuming fire aspect of the white light begin to process any negative thoughts or feelings that come up here about the other person. Here you are working on your emotional relationship. As things lighten up here, spend some time assimilating the purified essence. 6. Bring awareness of your union as Beings of Light into your solar plexus. From here you can expand out with enlightened awareness throughout the nerves throughout your entire body. Observe any tension or discomfort that come up here. This is where you can work on your sensory/perceptual relationships. Here differences in perspective and sensory preferences can throw communication off between people. As you clean up any negative thoughts, feelings, or sensations that become activated here while unifying with the Being of Light of the other person, you'll find that you can learn to harmonize with their perspectives. Harmonizing does not mean you have to like what they like, or totally agree. It means finding at least a point of common reference on which to build communication. 7. Expand your enlightened awareness to include your solar plexus, nerves, heart, liver, brain, and upper room. Experience the greater degree of harmony in consciousness that you have already established with the other person. You may find it very helpful to do this session from time to time with the same person to re-harmonize when things go off track, but it gets easier with practice. 8. (Optional): The process described above can be extended to include the pelvic bowl and generative-regenerative systems where appropriate. 9. Enjoy enhanced awareness of your Actual relationships. Problems in relationships are opportunities for growth, though sometimes well-disguised. The more you relate to others as a Being of Light, recognizing the Being of Light that each one is, the more enlightened and fulfilling your relationships will become. ACTUALISM, Part 5: Planetary Work SUMMARY: Using our awareness and thought to direct life-energy, we can alter the organizing energy field of the planet. Every thought we think, and put more power into by dwelling upon, has an effect on the planetary field. Since we are ourselves living within this same energy field, any changes in the field reflect back to us. This means that there is instant feedback from the planetary work we do, if only we are open to perceive it. File includes an introductory technique for doing planetary work with light-fire-energy. HOW CAN INNER WORK AFFECT THE PLANET? One of the most gratifying aspects of Actualism Lightwork for me has been the emphasis on planetary work. As I became aware of the tremendous problems in the world while I was growing up, I wished there was something I could do about them. Political action did not seem to be my calling. In Actualism I learned that I could do inner work to help raise the vibratory rate of the planet, and of the human family, thus finding an outlet for giving back to the earth that gives so much to us. The Earth is a living being. Within its energy field are all the life-forms that inhabit the planet, from the mineral kingdom, through the plant, animal, human, and angelic kingdoms. Every species of life is like an organ in (and on) the body of the Earth. Each individual member of each species is like a cell in the body of the planet. The human species is in the unique position of standing between the angelic and the animal kingdoms. We have a tremendous capacity to lift up the "kill or be killed" and "eat or be eaten" imprints of the animal kingdom as they arise in our own consciousness. Depending upon how we express our stewardship, the planet can once again become a Garden of Eden, or continue to degenerate and disintegrate into a barren wasteland. OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE PLANET We have very deep physical and spiritual links to the history of this planet. We are not just an organization of earth elements into a *homo sapiens* or "knowing man." We are in essence and in fact cosmic beings of Light and Love in an evolving creature form, learning to relate as a unified whole of heaven and earth in a physical body. We are evolving, as is the planet, in an interdependent interrelationship with every other life form. The consequences of denying this relationship have become all too apparent in the deterioration of our environment and its vital resources. Our survival as a species and the future health of the planet depend on humanity's awakening to its actual responsibility for the environment. Yet as great as our physical responsibility is for the future of our planet, even greater is our spiritual ability to respond, and our opportunity to support evolutionary change. Recent breakthrough discoveries in quantum physics have brought our understanding of physics and metaphysics closer together than ever in contemporary history. MIND AND MATTER Physicists tell us that atoms can influence each other at infinite distances. Subatomic particles appear and disappear in response to the act of being observed. What does it mean to us non-physicists that subatomic particles, especially those of light (photons), metamorphose from waves to particles and back to waves again? It means that energy and matter are the same stuff, just in different phases of being. So the old saying of "mind over matter" is giving way to a new awareness of mind-body interaction and integration. Once you realize that energy and matter are inseparable, and that mind and body are intimately interwoven, it is easy to see how the laws of energy in Actualism, "Awareness directs thought," and "Thought directs life-energy," are manifesting everywhere. The implication for the planet is that by using our awareness and thought to direct life-energy, we can alter the earth's organizing energy field. In fact, people influence it all the time, but few realize just how much. Every thought we think, and put more power into by dwelling upon, has an effect on the planetary field. Since we are ourselves living within this same energy field, any changes in the field reflect back to us. This means that there is instant feedback from the planetary work we do, if only we are open to perceive it. TECHNIQUE FOR DOING PLANETARY WORK WITH LIGHT 1. Gather and enlighten your awareness. Light your crystal-white star and do a quick purifying downpour through your body. (See Part 1 and 2 of this series). 2. Move with your enlightened awareness into your upper room, six inches (about 20cm) above the center of the top of your head. Unify with the Beings of Light of all people involved in this planetary work we are doing. You may also want to unify with the Being of Light whose body is the planet Earth, personified by the Greeks as "Gaia." In Actualism we refer to this being as the Planetary Logos, or just Logos. There are a great many of Beings of Light who are committed to helping the planet by doing inner work on a continuing basis. These are members of the Planetary Hierarchy of lighted ones, some of whom are in physical form, but many of whom are only in form on the inner planes. It is not necessary to know their names, nor to work with them in a personal way. 3. Send a beam of light from your star to the upper room of all those with whom you have unified as a Being of Light. The light you are sending from your star is like a contribution to a charitable foundation--your input, combined with that of many others can be used to help in areas where it is most needed. If you wish to "earmark your contribution" you can unify with the Beings of Light who specialize in a particular area of need on the planet. Perhaps there is a problem in the world that touches your heart in an especially powerful way. Include those who are able to help on the physical plane, as well as those who can help on the inner. As you are working with the light in this manner, you may have thoughts or feelings arise about something very personal, that seem to have no relation at all to the planetary work. Actually, whatever comes into your awareness at this point is relevant in some way. Accept all thoughts and feelings into the purifying light of the white star, and let the consuming-fire aspect reveal whatever essence there is within those seemingly random images that come into your mind. 4. Be open to the feedback of light coming to you from the upper rooms of all those Beings of Light with whom you have unified in consciousness. In that return flow of light is love, gratitude, and purified essence for you to assimilate. Drink it in, and let it expand from your upper room, throughout your body, and throughout your own energy field. Your field extends about 12 to 15 feet (approx. 4 to 5 meters) in every direction. 5. You can continue your inner work at night while your physical body sleeps. When you choose where you want the work to continue, you turn the subjective inner work over to your Higher Self. You may record the inner events as dreams, although it is not necessary to have recall for the work to take place. Be especially aware of changes reported in the news media in the area(s) you have selected. This could be a region of the world, or a particular realm of need such as the environment, world health, the economy, war, education, etc. You will be inner-directed as to what your focus needs to be at any particular time. Some projects you may want to work on over a period of time, others you may just touch on once. Either way, keep in mind this bit of wisdom: A COMFORTING THOUGHT* by Elizabeth C. Barber, Advanced Actualism Teacher You are not responsible for the fate of the planet Earth. However, as you tap, channel and direct life-energy through your personality systems, the God- children who have chosen that mission are provided with augmented power to support and protect our beloved earth home. The love and gratitude that you receive and accept in return from them helps you make progress toward your own personal goal. ACTUALISM, Part 6: Your Angelic Nature Much has been written recently about angels and how we can be aided by higher forces. A recent survey indicated that nearly 70% of Americans believe in angels. Yet we have very little training in Western culture as to how to go about relating with an angelic being. It is often thought that in order to contact an angel one has to be religious, but religion has nothing to do with relating to the angelic. In fact, every human being has an angelic nature. When someone says, "You are an angel", they probably do not realize how right they actually are. Your angelic nature is not the same as your higher self, your soul, or what we refer to in Actualism as the "Being of Light that you are". Rather, it is an aspect of your higher self. In Actualism we teach that there are many dimensions of the self. The lower dimensions are conditioned, personality self-extensions, of which the physical body is the most dense form. The angelic nature is in one of the higher, unobstructed dimensions. With enlightened awareness and the use of light-fire-energies, one can move increasingly into harmony with the beneficent forces of the universe. In Actualism you learn how to contact the angelic aspect of your own nature--your angelic self. As you open to the support of your *own* angelic nature, you put yourself in contact with many other angelic beings who can also assist you in everyday life, as well as in times of great need. All the great inventions that have so revolutionized our lives, from the wheel to the computer, have come from an inspiration--an angelic influence upon the minds of human beings. There are great resources of knowledge and extraordinary beauty at the angelic. Most of what we think of as genius in any field is the expression of higher mind qualities of the angelic dimension in time-space reality world. From the angelic dimension we receive inspiration. Those who are called "gifted" are particularly talented in bringing through from this dimension inspired knowing, feeling, and sensory awareness in their field of expertise. Whether in art, science, music, healing, or whatever, the angelic holds the key to that which will propel us into the future. The more in tune we become with the angelic dimension, the more we can speed up both spiritual and material progress. To explore what accelerated evolution would mean, look at how you have changed and developed in the last year. What if you could make those changes in a fraction of the time, say in a month? What would your life be like? On a global scale, just think of the changes that have happened in the world in the last few years--so many breakthroughs in the fields of technology, communication, medicine, and politics. Anyone who has followed world events for the last several years must be struck by the great changes that have occurred in a relatively short span of time. It was as if someone was playing a videotape of history and pushed the "fast forward" button. This accelerated change has been due to the influence of higher consciousness, including the angelic, upon humanity. From my own experience, the more I open up to the angelic realm, the more I have the sense of a divine Presence working on my behalf. It's not that I don't have to do anything, but more like a partnership. This interdependent interrelationship between the human and angelic realms is echoed in the saying "God helps those who help themselves". While it is wonderful to experience and relate with an external angel or "deva", there is no closer angelic presence than that aspect of oneself. As we come to experience our own angelic beingness in an intimate and personal way, we accelerate our own inner growth and development toward wholeness. What does this mean to our external life? The external world is an outpicturing of inner states of consciousness. Change consciousness and ultimately you change reality. USING THE INVOCATIVE POWER OF THOUGHT Although there are advanced techniques for exploring the angelic realms which are beyond the scope of this article, to contact your own angelic nature is as easy as thinking a thought. Do you recall the Four Laws of Energy according to Actualism? Just to refresh your memory, they are: 1. Awareness directs thought, and thought directs energy. 2. Life-energy follows thought. 3. Where there is pain, from mild discomfort to acute distress, the flow of life-energy is obstructed. 4. Where thought is focussed, the power of life-energy is concentrated. So thinking a thought is a powerful act. Whatever we think of, we unify with in consciousness. Thinking of your angelic nature invokes it. This is very important to understand, since you may not always have time to sit down and do a formal meditation session to "gather and enlighten your awareness". If you can take a few minutes to do that, it will help your awareness to register the angelic interaction, but it is not necessary. Just thinking the thought sets events in motion. That is why it is so important to be aware of and choose where you put the power of your desire and will. Thoughts counter to your good will and your true desire will pass through your mind from time to time, but it is your choice whether you will nurture and support them, or let them leave as quickly and quietly as the appeared. To deny or suppress negative thoughts only puts more power into them. Instead of denying negative thoughts, recognize and accept them into the light-fire energy as you intensify it or "blaze it up" If they are very stubborn, it may be necessary to hold them in the consuming fire aspect of your inner light until the low frequency energy is transformed and transmuted into high frequency. As you transform the energy of negative or low frequency thoughts, you are helping to process some of the planetary load of mass-mind consciousness affecting the planet. In this manner you are truly working on the side of the angels. TECHNIQUE FOR WORKING WITH THE ANGELS 1. Move with enlightened awareness into your Upper Room, located six inches (about 20cm) above the center of the top of your head. Here think of, which turns on, your crystal White Star, which is about three inches (10cm) in diameter. 2. Let the Star open and release a downpour of it's purifying liquid-like energy into and throughout your body, unloading any stress-producing low frequency energy that comes up [see Part 1 in this series for more details]. 3. Close the Star so it is no longer downpouring, and expand it from your upper room throughout your energy field [see Part 3 in the series]. Invoke--by thinking of--the consuming-fire aspect of the crystal white light to purify the energy field within and around your body. This field extends out from your body about 12 to 15 feet (approximately 4 to 5 meters) in every direction from your body. 4. Direct your enlightened awareness to unify with your angelic nature. Open to the abundant love, wisdom, good will, joy and beauty of your angelic beingness. 5. Think of anything in your life that you would like to improve, or any problem that you are working on solving. This could be about any personal problem including physical well-being, emotional distress, a relationship (or lack of one), career issues, or some creative problem you wish to solve. The problem, if personal, could be your own or someone else's. The main thing here is to keep your focus as simple as possible--don't try to force a solution. The less your try to solve at once, the easier it will be to receive clear input from your angelic nature. In fact, "trying" makes the solving harder. 6. Also unify with the angelic aspect of anyone who might be instrumental in helping you find a solution to the problem you have selected for your focus. You do not even have to know in your brain-mind who all the people involved might be. 7. Relax your brain. Don't try to see anything, or even to do anything. With effortless effort, observe and experience the impressions that come into your awareness. These could be physical, sensory, emotional or mental. Often the most illuminating ideas and insights come to us when we least expect them, because that is when we are most open to receive. The process is working whether you experience it immediately or not. 8. Before you emerge from this focus on union with your angelic nature, express gratitude to all the angels you are working with for their assistance. This expression can be verbal or nonverbal, or both. In receiving gifts from within, as in giving, "it's the thought that counts." 9. For the next few days, weeks, months--and more--observe the changes that are taking place in the area you have focussed on in your angelic work. That's it. It's so simple, one might miss the power and effectiveness of this approach. If you feel the need, you can certainly repeat the exercise above more than once on the same topic. In time you will become more familiar with your angelic nature, and you may find that you can achieve the desired results very quickly. Yet there are times when, no matter how adept we are at doing this, we may find the need to spend more time receiving angelic impressions. After all, it's not just about solving problems. It's about your growth and development toward the wholeness of body-mind-identity-Spirit integration. ACTUALISM, Part 7: Enlightening Your Dreams WHAT ARE DREAMS? Dreams can be enlightening or disturbing, stress-releasing or stress-producing, revealing or mysterious, and just about everything in between. This is because what we experience in our dreams, as in waking reality, is composed of much more than just personal, private events going on inside our heads. Dreams are often traces of events that take place on other dimensions. The brain records these events (sometimes more clearly than others) from the inner planes of consciousness in what we call dreams. *Everyone* dreams, but some people do not remember that they were dreaming, so they think they do not dream at all. Just as any two people who witness an outer, physical event may report it differently, so our dreams express our own unique way of experiencing inner events. Yet, the inner event being recorded is not necessarily "dreamed up" by the dreamer. This is why people who are very close, such as friends, lovers, family members, and fellow students of lightwork sometimes report having the same dream at the same time. SYMBOLS, MEANING, AND ESSENCE Sigmund Freud called dreams "the royal road to the unconscious". In Actualism we see dreams as a link to other dimensions of consciousness, where the inhibitions and defense mechanisms we have in ordinary waking reality are in abeyance. In many tribal cultures dreams are celebrated and shared. In our culture there is increasing interest in "lucid dreaming", where the dreamer is aware of being in the dream state. With enlightened awareness, almost anyone can learn to have lucid or directed dreams. As you learn to use a laser beam of inner light, you can pierce through illusion and challenge those who would try to intimidate or manipulate you in the dream world. Many people look for symbolism in their dreams, asking what this or that object means. Often the symbolism in dreams is very personal, so attempts at generalizing definitions of symbols are of limited usefulness. While dreams may be rich in symbolic meaning, and these meanings may yield valuable insights at times, using Actualism techniques of light-fire energy, one can go beyond the levels of symbols and their meanings to processing and transforming the energy in fear, anger, or hurt expressed in dream experience into healing energy ESSENCE. This essence includes the purified, enlightened form of the same energy and awareness that had been trapped in the negative or unresolved feelings in the dream. TRANSFORMING YOUR DREAMS If you have ever had the objectivity to change the outcome of a dream intentionally, you have had a glimpse of what the power of thought can do to direct energy on the inner planes. The laws of physics describe the physical world, but in the inner dimensions, including those we experience in dreams, there are entirely different laws in action. Among these laws are Actualism's Four Laws of Energy: 1. Awareness directs thought, and thought directs energy. 2. Life-energy follows thought. 3. Where there is pain, from mild discomfort to acute distress, the flow of life-energy is obstructed. 4. Where thought is focussed, the power of life-energy is concentrated. The power of these laws is even more evident in dreams than in external, physical reality. The results manifest instantly, as dreams change in response to your thoughts. If, for example, you find yourself falling into the ocean in a dream, with enlightened awareness you can think the thought that "I can fly" and find that you can. Or you might think "I can breathe underwater" and discover that this too is possible. (Don't try this on the physical plane!) SPIRITUAL NIGHT SCHOOL AND RECURRING DREAMS Though few people realize it, we are often attending a sort of spiritual "night school" while our physical body sleeps. Due to the instant response time to the power of thought, the inner dimensions lend themselves to training in spiritual mechanics. Many dreams are spiritual tests in disguise, set up for our learning and growth by our own higher self and other Beings of Light. This is especially true with recurring dreams. Frequently we "fail" an inner test three or four times before we even realize that we are being tested. Once we've learned the lesson presented in the dream, it tends not to recur, and we move on to other learning opportunities. I had a recurring dream of walking in a place where the ground was covered with snakes. They were writhing about me, and as soon as I became frightened of getting bitten, I was bitten. When I awoke and worked with the dream using light-fire energy, I realized that the snakes for me symbolized the hate that I was working to free some of my students from. You can't stop hate with hate, as it soon became clear to me. Eventually, instead of fearing and hating the snakes in the dream, I realized that I could use light-fire-energy to calm them (and myself) down. I let the light fill my body and field, unified with the snakes' consciousness, and communicated telepathically to them to relax, that I would not disturb them. They acted as if I wasn't there, letting me walk through their midst unharmed. This happened once or twice, and I have not had the dream since. HOW TO REMEMBER YOUR DREAMS When you begin working with inner light, dream recall tends to increase. You can facilitate the process by keeping a pad and pencil next to your bed. When you first wake up, jot down some notes on what you were dreaming. You may think you'll remember everything later, only to find that you can't even decipher your notes! Eventually it does become very easy and natural to remember your dreams, even to the point where taking notes is no longer necessary. The main thing at first is to accept whatever you recall from your dreams, even if it seems insignificant. As you become more adept at working with dreams, you will be able to select only the parts of dreams that are most important to remember. At the beginning it is the act of remembering that counts. TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH DREAMS BEFORE SLEEPING: Just before you fall asleep, ask your higher self to remind you to use your inner light tools during the coming dream experiences. This opens you to receive inner direction in the dream state. Moving into the upper room and doing a quick downpour of crystal white light with your star [see the technique in the first article in this series] before going to sleep facilitates greater awareness of dreams. It also helps many people fall asleep in a relaxed frame of mind. DURING YOUR DREAMS: If you see someone or something in a dream that seems threatening or strange, quickly light your white star in your upper room, and send a laser-like beam of light directly at the face of whomever, or whatever, you are looking at. If it is a lighted being, this will be taken as a greeting of light. If it is something other than what it appears to be, this laser beam of light becomes a powerful challenge, often causing the false-front to change or disappear, revealing what is hiding behind the illusion. AFTER YOU WAKE UP: Write down your dream as soon as possible. This will help you recall it later for processing with light-fire energy. Later, when you are fully awake, sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, and do as follows: 1. Gather and enlighten your awareness [see Part 2 of this series for details]. 2. Light your white star and do a downpour through your body and field, purifying your consciousness. 3. Stop the downpour, and move into your upper room (six inches--about 20cm--above the center of the top of your head). Within the upper room, focus your awareness within your star. Expand the white star to include your whole body. 4. Look over your dream notes and select a dream to work on. Review the dream in your mind, allowing yourself to re-experience the feelings you had while dreaming. Observe where in your body you have reactions to what took place in the dream. 5. Think and let the star intensify, blazing up the consuming fire aspect of the light-fire. Focus the consuming fire aspect in any part of your body where you find tension or discomfort. 6. Bring the images from the dream, and any reactions to it into your lighted Upper Room. Observe and experience the transformation taking place as the images and emotional reactions are processed in the fires. Make no effort to find any meaning in the dream, although you may find meaning being revealed as you work with "effortless effort", holding the dream in the light-fire of the star. 7. Assimilate the essence from the dream, including purified energy, awareness, and changes in identity. Direct the essence to any area of your body that was reacting to the dream. SUMMARY For those on the path of spiritual growth, dreams are a wonderful way to extend the fullness of life to include the third of our lives we spend in sleep. They give us insight into activities we are engaged in on other dimensions, and can be a very valuable source of growth and learning. Like many Actualism techniques, the ones presented above are very simple, yet can be very powerful when practiced step-by-step. As you work with these techniques repeatedly, you will find that you become more skilled at using them. May your nightmares become sweet dreams, as you learn to use the light-fire-energy before, during, and after your dreaming. ACTUALISM, Part 8: Your Inner Crystal Ball DECISION MAKING One of the most challenging things in life is having to make decisions. We try to learn as much as possible about our options, but very often we have to make a decision without being able to know all the facts. How can we know what the future will bring? You don't need a crystal ball or a "floating eight-ball" to tell you what decision to make. This is *not* about getting advice from "spirit guides" or any external source. You have within you a source of wisdom and inner knowing that can guide you in making even the most difficult choices. The Being of Light that you are sees far ahead into the future, along what we call "probability lines". By consulting your Actual Self, you can get a better sense of how different choices you make today will affect you and (others) tomorrow. As you learn to how to ask for inner direction with enlightened awareness, the "still small voice within" becomes easier to hear. We all have the ability to probe into the future, but some are more gifted than others at bringing this inner knowing into their awareness. It's like music, anyone can learn to play a tune on the piano, but only someone with an inspired gift or talent can make it emotionally moving. Whether or not you are "clairvoyant" (clear seeing), "clairaudient" (clear hearing), or "clairsentient" (clear sensing) in the traditional sense of these terms, you have the ability to get the inner knowing that *you* need to make the choices required of you in life. With practice in using enlightened awareness you can further develop and enhance that ability, regardless of your innate level of talent in perceiving what lies ahead. FROM THE SEEDS OF THE PAST Before we proceed to the "how to", let's look at the "how". Nothing happens as a completely isolated incident. Every action has a reaction, and everything in the cosmos is interrelated to some degree. The seeds for what is happening today were planted in the past, and today's events set the stage for the future. If you look at time as a continuum of events, you can view any particular sequence in time as an evolution--one event making possible something else, and so on. This flow unfolds along specific lines of probability, not randomly. Evolution does not mean predestination. Many people take the word of a psychic, oracle, or prophet that something is going to happen, and assume that there is nothing they can do to change it. We influence the future by exercising our free will to respond rather than merely reacting to circumstances. Probability lines indicate what is likely to happen, not necessarily the inevitable. FREEDOM TO CHOOSE As Beings of Light our awareness of probability lines is infinitely more extended than what we perceive as personalities. Enlightened awareness provides a linkage between your own Divine Awareness and your human awareness. When you go within to seek guidance, you allow your Higher Self to give you input. Of course, you may not always decide to follow your inner direction about which course of action to take. We have the free will choose to learn in countless different ways. Russell Schofield, the founder of Actualism, spoke of the "infinite variables in the cosmic learning game." DESIRE AND PURPOSE We get ourselves in all kinds of trouble when we let our desires push and pull us into things, rather than following our inner direction. Not that desires are inherently bad! In many religious and spiritual teachings desire is thought to be something to be suppressed and avoided. This has caused a lot of needless suffering and unhappiness due to the misunderstanding of the nature of desire. Actually, desire based upon need is essential to our very survival, as well as to finding joy in life. Instinctual desire motivates us to eat when we are hungry and drink when we are thirsty. The problems come in when desires become separated from need and purpose--causing us to want to eat and drink when we are not hungry or thirsty, or to want food and drink that give pleasure but do not nourish. Under the influence of conditioned, unenlightened awareness, we are ruled by random, fragmenting desires which can never be fulfilled. Many obsessions and addictions are due to deep unfulfilled needs for which the natural desire has been suppressed, repressed and therefore deviated. As we hold even these desires in the light we gradually become more free to discriminate with good judgment whether pursuing a desired object or experience would be worthwhile and constructive for ourselves and others. Then we find that our deep desires, rather than being distracting or even destructive, draw us closer to fulfilling our purpose in life. MISTAKES AND LEARNING FROM THEM The "mistakes" we make when we ignore our inner direction and better judgment are not really mistakes, just opportunities for learning in a different way. It's not about choosing the right or wrong path, but about deciding how we want to learn. Lesson learning and growth can occur with more or less pain, depending upon what choices we make. Sometimes pain can be a great teacher, even if it is just to give us compassionate, loving understanding of what others are going through. At other times the lesson in pain is that we have had enough of suffering and are therefore ready and willing to find a more enlightened way of growing. You can verify these ideas for yourself. Look back at your life. Examine what you consider to be some of your biggest "mistakes". What did your inner knowing tell you at the time? What did you learn as a result of those choices? What good came out of it in terms of your growth? If you cannot find *any* good that came out of these experiences, you need to work with the memory of them in the light, processing them further so you can extract the essence from them. [See the previous articles in this series for more details]. TECHNIQUE FOR ENLIGHTENED DECISION MAKING The following technique is presented as a useful adjunct to getting all the facts you can about your options in any decision you need to make. It is not intended as a substitute for common sense, or for good research. In a pinch, however, it has helped me and many others when a decision had to be made, but all the facts were not available. Furthermore, it is very helpful when the various choices you could make seem equally desirable. Before you begin, it is helpful to identify what options are open to you, narrowing the choices down to two or three. This gives you a better focus for your inner work. 1. Gather and enlighten your awareness, as described in Part 2 of this series. If you are in an agitated state, work with the downpour of crystal-white light as described in Part 1 to steady your energy systems, and even do a field clearing as in Part 3. When you are upset your energy is turbulent and muddy, which makes clear perception and thinking more difficult. 2. With your enlightened awareness, move into your Upper Room (six inches--about 20cm--above the top of your head). Think of the first possible choice in the situation you are considering. As you think of it, let your enlightened awareness to move along that path of probability into the consciousness of this option. Explore with knowing awareness, sensory awareness, and emotional awareness the qualities of this experience. The qualities may be very subtle, such as a slight lightening or increasing heaviness of weight, an increase or decrease in tension in some part of your body, or some other change in your sensory, emotional, or mental state. Make a mental note of these changes. 3. Repeat the previous step with each of your other two options. Then compare all three experiences and see which one best suits your current tastes and needs for learning. Again, it's not a question of making the "right" decision, but rather making the one that is best for you (and all others concerned) at the time. Sometimes you are faced with a situation to which there seems to be no solution, no acceptable options at all. In these cases you need a good dose of inspiration. At times like this, simply unify from the Upper Room with all the Beings of Light who can help you along your way, and be open to ideas and inspiration coming in. When ideas do come into your awareness, give them some time to develop, then check out the probability lines using the technique described above. LONG TERM BENEFITS Don't hesitate to unify with your Upper Room consciousness for even seemingly trivial decisions, like "what if I turn down this street instead of that one?", or to select a movie or restaurant. Your Higher Self is not insulted by being included in such decisions. On the contrary, you honor the Being of Light you are by opening to Higher Mind for assistance in any and all areas of life. As you practice the techniques presented above, the long term benefits go beyond being able to make more enlightened decisions. By strengthening the linkage between your Divine Mind and your brain-mind, you will find that you can access inner direction almost instantly, accelerating your growth toward wholeness. When you experience joy and fulfillment in life, the Being of Light you are rejoices, as the Creator-within and creation share life more abundant. For further information on Actualism, or for copies of other articles in this series, please contact: (C)1993 Bruce R. Jaffe, PhD. All rights reserved. Feel free to copy this document and pass it on, but any commercial use requires express permission of the author. *** References from this document *** [orig] http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit/actualism-meditation.html [1] http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit/lightwork.html [2] http://zeta.cs.adfa.oz.au/Spirit/Yoga/Overview.html